[0:00] I would like you to turn in your Bibles this morning to John chapter 14.
[0:10] ! Jesus said to him, Have I been with you so long and you still do not know me, Philip?
[0:40] Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, show us the Father? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?
[0:52] The words that I say to you, I do not speak on my own authority. But the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe in me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.
[1:10] Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do, and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.
[1:22] Whatever you ask in my name, this will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.
[1:35] Let's pray. This morning, Father, Father, I ask this in Jesus' name, that he, who enjoys the praise of angels, and will be our great satisfaction in eternity, will be the one that is rightly seen this morning through the enabling of the Spirit of God in the lives of those who are believers, and that seeing him, the hearts and lives of those who know Christ that are here today would be formed and shaped to be more like him, to be effective witnesses and testifiers to the glory and supremacy of Christ, and that those that are here today that do not know the Lord Jesus would be drawn by your Spirit to see the darkness and the bankruptcy of their soul and be brought by grace to see that there is no hope apart from Jesus.
[2:51] Give me your strength that I might lift up Jesus and that he might be seen worthy, glorious, sufficient, all satisfying.
[3:05] Protect us from our own indifference to the glory and supremacy of Christ. Remove things that would be an impediment to our focus this morning, and we ask this in Jesus' name.
[3:20] Amen. Amen. I have to say that this is a sermon that probably requires more prayer than last week's.
[3:33] I was preaching on stewardship last week, in case anybody forgot, and I let you know that it's probably my last one here because Pastor Shearer will be preaching full bore on stewardship next year.
[3:46] I don't know exactly what he's going to do, but it's like someone walked by me Sunday morning after the sermon and said, hey, we heard your first one, and we heard your last one. A pretty interesting statement.
[3:58] I appreciate those who have stayed with me and borne the outcome over the years. But I have to tell you that this passage is one that it's full beyond imagination.
[4:12] And the frailty of the human mind, as you gather so much, is that I know there's a limit to how much you will endure in the next hour and a half.
[4:30] And so you're thinking, really? I was teasing in case you didn't know. But there's so much here, honestly, that deserves our attention this morning that I would plead with you that you will persist in being in prayer that the Spirit of God would make the Lord Jesus Christ clear and glorious in your thinking.
[4:56] And that is a work that we need the enabling of the Holy Spirit to attend to. Now, having said that, I want you to understand the context of John chapter 14, verse 8.
[5:08] You remember that what has taken place beginning back actually in John chapter 13 on is that Jesus has been ministering to His disciples. We had the upper room where He performed the Last Supper and invited His disciples to do this on a regular basis in the future.
[5:26] He spoke to Judas and His betrayal and of Judas and His betrayal. He then ministers, and what we're dealing with this morning is a portion of the ministry of Christ to His disciples.
[5:40] Jesus knows that He's going to die on the cross in hours. He knows that He is going to be betrayed by one of His disciples. He knows that He is going to suffer separation from the Father, which is something that in all of eternity past had never taken place, and it would be supremely significant in the life of Christ.
[6:06] And yet the thing that I find so stunning is that in the face of what He knew was coming, His affection and His interest is in His disciples. And what we find in John chapter 14, remember back there in verse 1, it says, let not your heart be troubled.
[6:29] How many of you can identify with being troubled? I mean, all you have to do is wake up in the morning and realize that we live in a fallen, broken world.
[6:45] And the biggest problems that we have really don't come to us through the media, but we look at them in the mirror on a day-to-day basis, do we not?
[6:57] Was it Pogo that said, we have met the enemy and He is us? I remember hearing Paul David Tripp say that the fact of the matter is is that the biggest problem I have is me.
[7:10] And so here we are looking at the world that we live in, recognizing the challenges in our life, and the words that Jesus spoke to His disciples are supremely significant to us when we really get our hands around just how challenging the day is.
[7:28] The first part, Jesus reminded the disciples, He says, listen, I want you to know how the story ends. And it's good to remind ourselves periodically of the fact that what's going on today is not the end of the story.
[7:43] We look forward to the day that we are going to see the Lord Jesus Christ, and as it says in the Scriptures at numerous different occasions, we'll be satisfied with that. And so not only do we find this encouragement as to how the story ends, but another thing that Jesus brings to His disciples is this very, very precious truth that in the midst of our adversity and our difficulties, the most important thing for us to do is to look on Jesus and lock our eyes in on Him.
[8:17] Not too long ago, I was in a room talking with an individual who is in the last days of his life. And the individual was going through some of the normal struggles that come with that, and as the individual was sharing with me some of the challenges that are being faced, I encouraged the individual, hey, say, listen, fix your eyes on Jesus because He is the one absolute certainty that you can count on that will be an encouragement and a remedy for the challenges that you are facing.
[8:52] It reminds me a little bit, last week Timothy Shearer came marching into church, and how many of you know that he cut his finger? Does anybody know that? A couple of you know. He took a whack at it with a hatchet and very thankfully did not do anything more than endure nine stitches from Dr. Malumba.
[9:08] And he'll show you this after the service. I'm positive. I'll let you know. And when I saw that, I thought, oh, poor Timothy. And it really brought back reminders of my youth.
[9:23] My dad was a surgeon, and so I had to show Timothy all the cuts in my hand, and I didn't pull up my pants legs, but I've got them there too. And it was kind of a fairly regular thing that my dad would stitch me up.
[9:34] Now, I always had to wait because there were other major surgeries going on, and just kind of putting the pieces together for Tim was no big deal. And I was like, I'd wait for Dad, and he'd come out and say, oh, yeah, okay, and then off we'd go.
[9:47] I remember the first couple times that my dad stitched me up, it was a very traumatic experience. Once you get experience, you know, it's no big deal.
[9:57] I mean, like seventh, eighth, ninth, it's like, here we go again, no problem. But the first couple times were pretty traumatic. And my dad, as he was injecting me with Novocaine, how many of you know that the doctors lie when they say this is just like a little mosquito bite?
[10:18] Right? Do you say that, Dr. Malumba? I just check it. Okay? The first couple times, here's what my dad said to me.
[10:32] He said, Tim, look at my face. Look at my face. And looking in my father's face made all the difference in the world in handling the pain.
[10:46] That's what we're dealing with here when Jesus is talking to his disciples, and they're struggling with the uncertainty of what is coming. they know that the one they have loved and followed for three years is on the cusp.
[11:05] He's told them, I'm going to be crucified. I'm going to be betrayed. I'm going to die. I'm going to rise. And all of that's kind of just blurred out in a terrifying reality of Jesus leaving.
[11:18] And so Philip, in the midst of that, you know what he says? Look at the passage. He says, Hey, listen. Lord, show us the Father and it's enough for us.
[11:33] Now we like to think that Philip's request is really pretty spiritual. And it is on some aspects, but I want you to follow with me as Jesus gives his answer.
[11:47] And what we're going to find in this passage is that Jesus is our full satisfaction. Jesus really is the only one who can completely satisfy the longing of your soul and deal with the heartache and challenges and adversity that you face.
[12:05] Everything else is not sufficient. And so as you look at this moment and we hear Philip say, Show us the Father.
[12:19] I want you to understand that Philip's request, for one, was actually understandable. It really was. And it was understandable for several good reasons.
[12:31] For one, Philip was kind of asking a question that other individuals have asked in the Scriptures. You remember when Moses had been given the responsibility of taking the nation of Israel, that little ragged band of grumpy people on a long trip.
[12:50] How many of you parents have been a little frustrated with the fact that you've pulled out of the driveway and somebody in the back of the car says, Are we there yet? And after you have invited everybody to go winky tinky, you're down the road about 10, 15 miles and somebody says, I have to go.
[13:09] Just so you know, I explained to my children if they had to go, we would pull over on the side of the road immediately. My boys thought that was okay.
[13:20] My girls didn't. But I want you to understand, here is Moses leading the nation of Israel into the promised land and this group of people were wearing him out.
[13:35] And Moses says, Well, listen, show me your glory. I need to see you. I need to see you. And if you were to turn, and I'm not going to ask that you do it this morning, but if you were to turn over to Exodus chapter 33, verse 18, you'll find that God showed himself to Moses and it was an encouragement to him.
[13:56] For another thing, you'll remember that Job speaks. He said, I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy, what? Thy likeness. And we know that the desire of the heart of man is to see that which is supremely satisfying and supremely beautiful and that is God the Father.
[14:21] And so, as we look at this, we find Philip asking a logical thing, but I want you to know another thing is that Philip's request was actually a great testimony of faith. Here he was, faced with adversity and difficulty, and he was saying, listen, I understand what we're going to go through.
[14:38] I mean, at least I hear you saying the words and all I need, just let me see God. We've all been there at some point in our life where the incredible challenges of the moment, the heartache, the loss that we've been enduring, a grief with a child or a marriage or whatever, where we just cry out and say, Lord, I need to see you.
[15:02] But at the same time, I want you to understand that Philip's question showed that he really didn't appreciate the facts that he had at hand. I want you to hold on to that just for a second.
[15:13] Philip didn't appreciate the facts that he had at hand. Everybody look up so I know you understand what I'm going to say next. Very seldom do I, in counseling, ever tell people something brand new.
[15:29] at least in our fellowship and most of the time, I'm bringing back into view and into their thinking things that they have heard and seen and understood before and forgotten.
[15:48] So here is Philip saying, show us the Father and the fact of the matter is is that he'd been there when Peter had confessed. Remember, Peter, who do men say that I am? Who do you say that I am?
[15:58] Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. Philip had been in the boat when they had been terrified in the storm.
[16:11] And then Jesus awakened and he quieted it with a word. And do you know what the scripture says, both in Mark and Luke? It says, they were afraid before, but now with the recognition of the supremacy of the one in the boat, they were terrified.
[16:27] Philip had seen Jesus cast out demons. He'd seen Jesus heal all sorts of sicknesses.
[16:39] He'd seen Jesus raise the dead. He had been there to hear Jesus preach and teach. And he had made connection again and again with the fact of Christ's supremacy and authority and grasp of the Old Testament and the fact that he was the Messiah.
[17:01] And yet on the moment, under the adversity of the hour, Philip laid that aside and he became very anxious and troubled. And the fact of the matter is, is that when you really come down to it, we've all been in the same place that Philip was.
[17:16] Isn't that right? We've taken our eyes off of Christ just like Peter did when he went down and we've forgotten the blessing and the supremacy and the sweetness of the person that has come to know us as we've known as our Savior and we forget that.
[17:34] And so, here when we stop and think about it, I want you to recognize we've been like Philip. We really have. I speak to most of you this morning that know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior and you are here this morning recognizing the certainty of your salvation.
[17:49] you were taken out of the kingdom of darkness and put into his sweet kingdom of light. You've been blessed as it says in Ephesians, you've been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies.
[18:03] You know how the story will end. And yet, there you are faced with some of the major trials of your life whether it's a sickness or a wayward child or a marriage that's struggling or the loss of a job and at the moment you find yourself terrified and you say the one thing I need is just a better view of God.
[18:29] And I want you to grasp the sweet truth of what Jesus says and hold on to it. He says there in the passage whoever, verse 9, whoever has seen me has seen the Father.
[18:42] How can you say show us the Father? whoever has seen me has seen the Father. What we understand that to mean is that Jesus is all in all.
[19:00] I think about the passage over in Colossians where it says in him the fullness of the Godhead dwells. Do you know what it's saying? It's saying that Jesus Christ is the one who is entirely sufficient for satisfying the deepest longing of our heart.
[19:21] I think about the way in which Revelation chapter, I think it is 5, plays out. Revelation chapter 5.
[19:33] Let's take a minute just to go there so I am speaking accurately. Revelation chapter 5. It begins with John seeing the evidence of a scroll there in verse 1 written within and on the back sealed with seven seals and a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals.
[20:02] And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look at it and I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy and who was worthy to open the scroll?
[20:14] Who was it? The Lion of Judah. The Lamb that was slain. The one who is our Redeemer or our Savior. That is the one who is worthy to open the scroll. And what plays out in the remainder of chapter 5 is this unbelievable recitation of glory to the Lord Jesus Christ who is the Lamb slain for our sins.
[20:39] And so here we find Jesus speaking to His disciples in the face of the incredible adversity that far surpasses the moments that we are facing and in that thing He says, listen, listen, I'm the one and I'm the one who can satisfy the heartache and the need that you have.
[20:57] And so I've got to tell you this, we would do well to think more about Him now. Now, having said that, what I want you to recognize that follows there in John chapter 14 beginning there in verse 10 and carrying on down through the end of the passage that we're going to study is Jesus gives us three explicit indicators of why He is the God and Father, why He is one with the Father and why our view of Him is sufficient to satisfy the needs of our heart.
[21:30] that's what He does. You look there in the passage, do you not believe, verse 10, that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? Can you not make this connection of Jesus being the complete and satisfying evidence of the Father?
[21:50] He is the Father. I've got to tell you, when we get to heaven, I'm one and there are those who maybe see it differently. I do not believe that I'm ever going to see God the Father. I'm going to see Jesus and that will satisfy me.
[22:02] I will be fully satisfied with seeing Him. And here is Jesus speaking to Philip who, you know, in the midst of this mess, just let me see God. Jesus says, hey listen, let's get this straight.
[22:15] I always spoke the Father's words. That's what He says there in verse 10. Look at it. He says, I do not speak on my own authority.
[22:27] What Jesus was reminding Philip was, was that His union and communion with the Father was such that everything He said was directly according to the Father's desire.
[22:39] One of the things that happens as you get older in marriage, when marriage is kind of growing together, how many of you know as you get towards the later year, you can fill in the sentences? Now, that doesn't mean that speech becomes unnecessary.
[22:54] You know, I like to hear Judith talk, but I do know what she's going to say in many instances. Very, very frail illustration. Here is Jesus saying, let me tell you something, what I say the Father says.
[23:10] Over in John chapter 7, 16, you're in John, just look back for a second to the passage in John chapter 7 verse 16. Here's what Jesus said. He said, Jesus answered them, my teaching is not mine, but his who sent me.
[23:27] There was a question about, what are you teaching? He said, well, I'm teaching what the Father once taught. You look over at another passage in John chapter 12 and go ahead and go to that one, John chapter 12 verse 49.
[23:43] Jesus says this, for I have not spoken of my own authority, but the Father who sent me, he has himself given me a commandment. what to say and what to speak. You know, there's a time for Robert Frost and William Shakespeare and Martin Luther King or whatever else, but at the end of the day, the truth of the matter is this, is that what God has to say is sufficient and supreme and satisfying and it's the best thing to rely upon.
[24:10] But I've got to make this point clear. Jesus wasn't just talking about God, he was God's word and God himself speaking in human form to us in John chapter 6 verse 68 when Jesus asked the disciples after the lengthy sermon where most everybody left, he said, are you guys going and what did Peter say?
[24:32] Where are we going? You have the words of life. And then again, in John chapter 7 verse 46 in the same context that we are, one of the things that takes place is people come back and they say this, no one ever spoke like this man.
[24:53] Now what was it about Christ speaking that made his words so powerful? What was it?
[25:05] It was that he was in fact God incarnate. And that was it. And here is Philip struggling with the adversity of his moment and Jesus says, listen, get this straight.
[25:23] You want to see God? You've got me. And everything I have said has been God's word. Second thing that we find there in the passage in John chapter 14 is that Jesus always did the Father's work.
[25:39] Jesus always did the Father's work. You look there, you're working through the latter part of verse 10. He says, I do not speak on my own authority but the Father who dwells in me does his works.
[25:52] Now, I've got to admit, it's a little bit of a stretch for us to kind of step from word to work, right? But that's what happened. First point is, Jesus always spoke the Father's words.
[26:05] Secondly, Jesus always did the Father's works. I love the logic that you find there in verse 11 that kind of supports and fills it out.
[26:16] It says, believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me or else believe on account of the works themselves. Look at what is happening as evidence of my deity.
[26:29] I think back to when Moses came back from the burning bush and his concern was, well, how am I going to be able to demonstrate to the people of Israel, the Jews, and to Pharaoh that I am your messenger?
[26:47] And God said, hey, listen, I'm going to give you a couple demonstrative, I'm going to give you some miracles that are going to prove. And remember the starting point, a couple of them, the Pharaoh's magicians were able to pull off.
[27:00] But they reached the point where the magician said, this is the, can anybody fill it out for me? This is the finger, that's beyond us. There's no hocus pocus here.
[27:11] We can't pull this one off. This is for real. And Jesus over and over again did miracles that were undeniable evidence of God being at work in that situation.
[27:24] I go back to the illustration where Jesus was in the storm and the disciples were kind of freaking out because there's a mess and they thought they were going to drown, you know, and Jesus is sleeping in the boat.
[27:36] They wake him up and just a word, bang, it all shuts down immediately. Now they had been afraid of the storm but they were terrified at the presence of Christ.
[27:51] And so here we are, Jesus is reminding Philip, hey, weigh the evidence. I've done works that no one but God could do.
[28:02] The things I've done are undeniable proof that I am God. Incidentally, while we do not prove our deity by the works that we do, we do show that we're His children when we behave like He calls us to behave.
[28:22] Isn't that right? Huh? So do your works and prove you are His or you have good reason to ask yourself, am I really one of His children?
[28:35] I think that's important for us to recognize when Jesus works in the life of a believer, there is every reason to see the evidence of transformation and change.
[28:47] Jesus always did the Father's work. would be nice for us to focus on that and do it ourselves. Let's come to the third point. Jesus always glorified the Father.
[29:00] Now, allow me to make a transition here from verse 11 to verse 12 for you. In verse 11, Jesus made the point that His works proved His deity. He then explained, and I'm going to look at this with you just for a moment, verse 12.
[29:16] He says, Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in Me will also do the works that I do, and greater works than these will he do. Now, how many of you have heard that verse along with verse 14, if you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it, used as verses to kind of pitch the idea that if we ask anything we want, we ought to get it?
[29:41] Right? How many of you have ever heard that? Yeah, you can go home this afternoon and listen to televangelists who will tell you that all you have to do is ask God for whatever you want and send in a check for $200, and you're getting it.
[29:57] There's a song that I am not inclined to sing, but it's a good one. It has this little line in it saying, but tell me this, would Jesus ever wear a Rolex on His TV show?
[30:11] These verses have been woefully misused and people are real suckers for them. Does anybody ever hear about anybody walking on water, by the way?
[30:28] And when you hear about all these miraculous, you know, faith healing, blah, blah, blah, why don't they go to Children's? I mean, honestly, do you know that Jesus showed up at places like Children's and He did slam dunks on everybody that came through?
[30:41] I mean, the whole crowd. Do you follow that? Nobody ever walked away saying, yeah, but. When Jesus was turned loose, it was really bad for the medical community if they were counting on making their checks that way.
[30:56] You know, it's like, oh, sorry, honey, no surgeries today. What happened? Jesus came to town. I mean, do you follow that? And we live in a world where I just, stop, Tim, you're going off track.
[31:13] Okay. Okay. Listen. Here's what Jesus says. He says, you know, you're going to do greater works than this. I'm not going to walk on water.
[31:26] I'm never going to heal anybody. I may suggest an aspirin or two, but that's the limit of my ability. You know, but you know what I have? What is the greatest work that Christ came to do?
[31:38] Does anybody know? What's the greatest work that he came to do? Tell me. He came to save people. I get to be part of that. Isn't that right? I am pumped this morning because I've got an opportunity tomorrow morning to share the gospel with a person I've been working on for about a year.
[31:57] I'm out taking care of the dog and the guy walks across the neighborhood and says, hey, about a month ago he was in a poor mood and I said, well, why don't we do coffee?
[32:09] And here he is. I've tried to reach out to him. No opening, no opening. He walks across the lawn and he says, hey, we need to get together. I said, yes. I get to talk to that guy about the only one who can change his life.
[32:23] Huh? Does it get any better than that? I watched my dad stitch people up. I watched my dad help people with medical problems and the truth of the matter is they all died.
[32:36] Do you understand that? They all died. But people who come to faith in Christ when the story's told, they are not the same person.
[32:50] Old things are passed away. Behold, what? All things have become new. And Jesus says to us, guess what? You are going to be involved in some bigger things than I've ever done.
[33:02] Why? Because the cross is going to be behind him in just a couple hours and we get to tell people, let me tell you, Jesus died for your sins.
[33:13] It's good, isn't it? You're going to do great works. You're going to do great works. As you look at this passage, Jesus says, hey, listen, I always glorified the Father.
[33:30] Where do we find that? Look at verse 13. Whatever you ask in my name, this will I do that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
[33:46] Do you know what I have a problem with? Same thing you have a problem with. I sometimes forget that Tim is not the center of the universe.
[33:57] How about you? I need to be reminded, Jesus is. I love that passage. In fact, go ahead and look at it because it's just a real zinger for me.
[34:08] It's one of those that I have memorized and sticks in my mind and I use on a fairly regular basis in pastoral ministry. Philippians chapter 2, verse 20 and 21. Paul is talking about Timothy, not this one, but the one back then and here's what he says.
[34:24] I have no man who is like him for all, who will genuinely be concerned for your welfare. Bear with me. I have no man who is like-minded who will naturally care for your estate, King James, for all seek their own and not the things of Jesus Christ.
[34:40] We're about ourselves and here's Jesus saying, let me tell you something. I am all about my Father. It's fair to say that Jesus came to save sinners but even more significant than that, Jesus came to glorify the Father.
[35:06] That's the thing that stands out above all else. And this morning as you think about the supremacy and the significance and the sweetness of Jesus, understand this, that the truth behind his coming and the goal of redemption is really not just the matter of saving lost and ruined sinners.
[35:31] It is the glory of God and the supremacy of God that is in focus. Turn with me just for a second before we close to what we find in John chapter 17 verse 1 and verse 4.
[35:45] I got to tell you, I'll just tell you ahead of time, we're going to march our way through John and get done with it but in a different life I'd probably preach on John 17 for about a year. It is dynamite.
[35:57] I know. Keep moving. Keep moving. John 17. When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour has come.
[36:08] Glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you. Verse 4.
[36:18] I glorified you on earth having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. This morning, every one of us, every one of us that is here that knows Jesus as our personal Savior will find our greatest satisfaction in the day that we see him face to face.
[36:49] Do you understand that? It will never get any better than that. And one of the things that it says, in 1 John 3, it says, he that has this hope in him purifies himself.
[37:10] Hey, getting excited about the thought of seeing Jesus someday does something pretty significant with the messy life you have. You don't have to go to the self-help aisle to deal with the trash in your life.
[37:29] Try Jesus and get your eyes fixed on him. And here is Jesus saying to Philip who's kind of twerked out about the mess that's coming.
[37:41] He says, please show me the Father. Jesus says, hey, look at me. Look at me. Look at me. Hebrews chapter 12, verse 1 and 2.
[38:06] Seeing, therefore, that we are encompassed by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us run the race with patience. Doing what?
[38:19] Looking unto Jesus who is the author and finisher of our faith. Listen to me. There are some of you that haven't figured out that the messy, unhappy life you're living is really because you're so focused on yourself.
[38:40] And you'd like to blame other people for not joining you and focusing on yourself. In fact, you're a little irritated with other people for not being more focused on you.
[38:54] Can I tell you there is no remedy for being self-focused apart from the grace of God that helps us understand that there is only one worthy of all the glory and that's Jesus.
[39:10] And so it is appropriate for us today who know Christ, who've maybe lost our first love to cry out and say, Lord, you need to deal with me. I am sick of being a self-focused, unhappy, grumpy person.
[39:23] By the way, you can ask your wife as you're driving home, how am I doing at being unhappy, grumpy, and since Jesus is the remedy, do you think I need to work at that? That's really gutsy.
[39:34] Or you can say it to your mom or your dad, you know, but I need to get things right. There's some of you here that don't know Christ. I don't know your heart, but I gotta tell you, you will either see him as the satisfaction of all eternity or you will see him as the judge who will condemn you to an eternity in hell for refusing his offer of salvation through his faith, grace and faith.
[40:04] And I would plead with you this morning, make it right before it's too late. Let's close in prayer. Our Father God, this morning, we understand that the purpose of preaching is not to entertain us but to bring us to the point of saying yes or no to God.
[40:26] You who are supremely worthy of all adoration and praise, you that will occupy the glory of heaven for all of eternity and will satisfy our lives beyond our wildest expectation and imagination call to us this morning and encourage us to set our affections upon things that are above, to set our eyes on Jesus that the adversity of life is not overwhelming, that the challenge of becoming someone other than who we are by our nature may take place through the ministry of the Spirit of God as we see in Christ are changed from glory into glory.
[41:12] Now is the time to put the matter on the table and make decisions that honor Christ and we ask the Spirit's help for the glory of our Savior in whose name we pray.
[41:25] Amen.